“The King of Pigs” synopsis by episode (Eps. 1-12, no spoilers)

Notes: (1) “The King of Pigs” is a dark and deeply disturbing drama rated at R18+; if you’re triggered by scenes of bullying, cruelty, and suicide, do not watch this drama. (2) This drama is currently available only on TVING. (3) “This drama is based on the 2011 adult animated psychological drama thriller film “The King of Pigs” written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho. The film was selected to be screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, making it the first Korean film of its kind to be screened in Cannes. The film was highly polarizing, but was mostly praised for its realistic portrayal of bullying, violence, and systemic poverty. It won three awards at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival.”

Jump to synopsis of Episode 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12 (Finale); How I wrote these episode summaries with no spoilers; Historical / cultural backgrounders and other information; Lessons in photography from “The King of Pigs” with brief analysis of its visuals, cinematography, and editing (work in progress)

From Wikipedia: “The King of Pigs” is a South Korean web series starring Kim Dong-wook, Kim Sung-kyu, and Chae Jung-an. It’s written by Tak Jae-young and directed by Kim Dae-jin. The series depicts a thriller drama of those who brought out memories of violence due to a mysterious serial murder that began with a message from a friend 20 years ago. It premiered on TVING on March 18, 2022.

Genre: drama, mystery, thriller. Rating: R18+

“The King of Pigs” has been invited to screen at the Fantasia Film Festival 2022 in Montreal, Canada. It is the first Korean drama to be invited to the event. Four episodes of the 12-part series will be streamed consecutively according to the show’s production company Studio Dragon.

This drama is based on the 2011 adult animated psychological drama thriller film “The King of Pigs” written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho. The film was selected to be screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, making it the first Korean film of its kind to be screened in Cannes. The film was highly polarizing, but was mostly praised for its realistic portrayal of bullying, violence, and systemic poverty. It won three awards at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival.

In 2021, KoreanScreen listed “The King of Pigs” as the 71st best Korean film of all time in their list of 100 Greatest Korean Films Ever, a list polled by 158 international film critics from 28 countries, making it the only animated film in the list. The list wrote, “Sometimes films are necessarily bleak in order to imprint their message on your mind. This is a lesson on bullying and hierarchical high school environments you are unlikely to ever forget.”

How I wrote these episode summaries with no spoilers

1. I assumed that you will be reading these summaries and watching the videos chronologically.

2. I narrated some of the main actions in each episode without revealing the plot’s twists and turns.

3. At the beginning of each summary starting with Episode 2, I placed in a table a recap of the major twists and turns of the previous episode. But because you have already watched the video of the previous episode, they aren’t spoilers anymore.

4. I followed this structure all throughout, except for Ep. 12 (Finale) where I included spoilers. Reason — most people want to know if the drama has a good/happy ending or a sad ending before they invest the time in watching it. But as I said above, “The King of Pigs” is a dark and deeply disturbing drama rated at R18; if you’re triggered by scenes of bullying, cruelty, and suicide, do not watch this drama.

Episode 1

While fumes from lighted charcoal briquettes fill their apartment, a man struggles with his wife. Later, as he looks at her dead body on the floor, a figure sitting across the room, holding a baseball, and wearing a hoodie says to him, “You’ve finally become a monster.” When the figure looks up, it has a pig’s face rather than a man’s face.

Detective Kang Jin-ah and her partner Constable Jin Hae-soo from the Seo Dong Police Station arrive at the apartment to investigate. They see bruises on the woman’s neck and find books such as “Psychology of Murder” and human anatomy in the study room. Based on the evidence, Detective Kang Jin-ah thinks that the woman’s husband killed her. As Constable Jin Hae-soo pulls back a curtain, they see a message written with a red marker that says: “To detective Jung Jong-seok: Jong-seok, it’s been a long time. It’s me, Hwang Kyung-min. How have you been?”

Through the files at the police station, Detective Kang Jin-ah finds out that Hwang Kyung-min (the dead woman’s husband) and Detective Jung Jong-seok of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency were classmates in middle school. Afterwards, she visits Detective Jung Jong-seok, who had just come home from an entrapment operation against a criminal known as “Dog Park.”

The autopsy results reveal that Hwang Kyung-min’s wife has traces of sleeping pills on her system and a recent injury. Detective Kang Jin-ah theorizes that Hwang Kyung-min wanted a double suicide with his wife by forcing her to ingest the sleeping pills and then lighting the charcoal briquettes. But Detective Jung Jong-seok cautions her not to be rash with her theories or conclusions.

Detective Kang Jin-ah and Detective Jung Jong-seok find out from Hwang Kyung-min’s psychiatrist that five years ago, he had symptoms stemming from the psychological and physical violence inflicted on him by his father. He had been improving since then, but his condition began to deteriorate a year ago when he became angry after finding his wife in the storeroom looking through his childhood photo album. He forced his wife out of the storeroom, but later, his wife found him in a state of shock and panic in the storeroom.

In the storeroom, Hwang Kyung-min became agitated while looking through his album of childhood pictures, especially at his 8th Grade class picture during a spring picnic. He recoiled in shock after seeing a pig’s mask in a box near the album; he also hallucinated about a figure wearing a hoodie and with a pig’s face, watching him from the shadows.

While he and Detective Kang Jin-ah follow up leads on the sleeping pills and charcoal briquettes, Detective Jung Jong-seok remembers his days in middle school with Hwang Kyung-min.

Episode 2

Ep. 1 recap: Flashback ... Besides being abused by his father, Kyung-min was terribly bullied by two bigger kids from middle school. Detectives Jung Jong-seok and Kang Jin-ah find out that Kyung-min’s wife got prescriptions for sleeping pills from several psychiatric clinics and bought charcoal briquettes from the local supermarket. Flashback ... Unable to deal with the trauma that Kyung-min has been suffering from ever since she found him in shock at the storeroom, his wife decides to end their lives. She spikes his drink with sleeping pills; after lighting the charcoal briquettes, she takes some sleeping pills. Roused to consciousness by the fumes, Kyung-min sees his wife unconscious beside him; he tries to make her cough up the sleeping pills she took and applies CPR on her. After changing clothes at the toilet where the older kids bullied him during middle school, Kyung-min watches from a distance one of the bullies, Ahn Jung-hee, who’s now the owner of a car center. As he sees the bully abusing an employee, he takes out a switchblade.

Flashback ... As his father lays dying on a hospital bed, Kyung-min vents his anger and hate by shouting at him, “Go to hell!”

At the office of Sin Seok Transportation, Jin-ah and Jong-seok find out that Kyung-min used the name “Nam Gi-cheol” as the company’s CEO. The manager tells them that CEO Nam took the week off and that he doesn’t know where he can be found. But Jong-seok seems to recognize one of the company’s drivers.

As he and Jin-ah drive away from Sin Seok Transportation, Jong-seok remembers his and Kyung-min’s days during the 8th grade in middle school. Meanwhile, Jin-ah thinks about why Kyung-min dropped out of school during the 8th grade, with Jong-seok transferring to another school.

At the car center, Ahn Jung-hee greets Kyung-min whom he addresses politely as CEO Nam. Kyung-min tells Ahn Jung-hee that since it’s a holiday, he should give the day off to his employee. Ahn Jung-hee immediately obeys and goes to speak to his employee; as he climbs back up to his office, Kyung-min hides behind a tarpaulin and prepares to stab him with a hypodermic needle.

Episode 3

Ep. 2 recap: Flashback ... The bully Ahn Jung-hee humiliates Kyung-min before the whole class by making him crawl on the floor. Jong-seok tries to help, but one of their classmates holds him back. As Kyung-min crawls, someone wearing a hoodie and clutching a baseball wakes up and sees what’s happening. Kyung-min gained Ahn Jung-hee’s trust by contracting his car center to maintain Sin Seok Transportation’s taxis. The TV news program reports the death of Kyung-min’s wife, his disappearance, and the business losses of Sin Seok Transportation. During their struggle, Ahn Jung-hee stabs Kyung-min with a piece of broken pottery several times. After falling backwards and hitting his head on a table, he grabs a knife and tries to stab Kyung-min. But Kyung-min sees an image of a young man in a hoodie, who motions to him by pointing to his neck. At the crime scene, Jin-ah and Jong-seok are shocked to see Ahn Jung-hee’s body hanging as if crucified on the wall, with his hands and arms bound with chains. On the wall, using Ahn Jung-hee’s blood, Kyung-min wrote a message to Jong-seok saying that “we must do it together.” In the pool of blood below Ahn Jung-hee’s body, they see a baseball.

As Jong-seok staggers out of the crime scene, Jin-ah follows him despite her superior and fellow detectives telling her to stay. At a bar, Jong-seok remembers how Kyung-min was bullied during the first day of school; he realizes that Kyung-min is exacting his revenge against those who bullied him. Meanwhile, inside an RV (camping car), Kyung-min crosses out with his switchblade Ahn Jung-hee’s face from their group picture during the summer picnic.

Flashback ... At the playground, Jong-seok tells Kyung-min to tell the adults about the bullying. Kyung-min replies that he reported it during the 1st Grade, but the adults didn’t want to get involved. As they’re talking, Jong-seok sees their classmate with the baseball passing by. Kyung-min warns Jong-seok that he should be careful because the bullies might target him next.

Jin-ah’s superior and fellow detectives find out who Jong-seok is and his connection to Kyung-min and Ahn Jung-hee.

Episode 4

Ep. 3 recap: Flashback ... Kyung-min tells Jong-seok that he told his father about the bullying, but his dad just blamed him for being timid. On the street, Jong-seok meets Kyung-min’s mother, who’s on her way to bring some dishes to his parents. She breaks down crying as she thanks him for being Kyung-min’s only friend. On the corridor, the mysterious student with the baseball mocks Jong-seok by saying that he can’t help Kyung-min because Kang Min (the class president) is a dog while he’s a pig. Kang Min accuses Kyung-min of sending an anonymous complaint about the bullying; he orders Kyung-min to play the "Suicide Game." As Kyung-min is about to lose consciousness, Jong-seok (who sent the complaint) screams at Kang Min and the other bullies. The Seo Dong Police Station investigates Jong-seok as a suspect in the two murders. After remembering how Kang Min bullied Kyung-min, Jong-seok tells Jin-ah that he has to catch Kyung-min.

Using a Sin Seok Transportation taxi, Kyung-min goes after his next target — his former middle school teacher, Choi Suk-ki, who’s now the school principal.

After Jong-seok is released, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency organizes a team dedicated to catching Kyung-min; they focus on the 30-plus members of Jong-seok and Kyung-min’s 8th Grade class.

Flashback ... On the school’s rooftop, Jong-seok fights with Ahn Jung-hee.

Kyung-min’s classmates who were contacted by the detectives from the dedicated team all point to their teacher as having bullied Kyung-min. Later, one of them calls Kang Min — now a well-known surgeon in a university hospital — and warns him about the police investigation on Ahn Jung-hee’s bullying of Kyung-min. Kang Min belittles the warning, describing Kyung-min as a loser. When he meets Jong-seok who has come to the hospital, he mocks him by saying that he still reeks of fish.

Based on her interview with Ahn Jung-hee’s widow, Jin-ah finds out that Ahn Jung-hee talked to someone on his phone before he died. On the other hand, Jong-seok learns from his junior detective about the suspicious financial transactions and drivers in Sin Seok Transportation.

Episode 5

Ep. 4 recap: Flashback ... Despite being outsized, Jong-seok wins the fight against Ahn Jung-hee. Later on, however, Kang Min traps him and Kyung-min by putting glue on their seats. Kang Min then proceeds to beat him up. Jong-seok finds out that Kyung-min withdrew all of his bank savings and that some drivers in Sin Seok Transportation have criminal records as drug dealers or violent offenders. He and his junior detective find from the drug dealers’ apartment a ledger containing the names of all the people they sold drugs to. Besides Kyung-min’s name, Jong-seok also finds Kang Min’s name. One of the drug dealers confesses that Kyung-min ordered them to turn Kang Min into a drug addict through a prostitute who Kang Min was infatuated with. At the school, as Jin-ah tries to call for back-up to protect Principal Choi Suk-ki, Kyung-min attacks her on the corridor. She stops him by firing a warning shot. When she gets distracted, however, Kyung-min escapes in his taxi. Jin-ah chases after him and radios for help. Jin-ah and the responding police officers corner the taxi they’ve been chasing. But Jin-ah is flustered when she sees that the man she thought was Kyung-min is actually a decoy; he’s the driver whom she and Jong-seok saw at the Sin Seok Transportation office. After Jong-seok warns him that Kyung-min killed Ahn Jung-hee, Kang Min takes a taxi to go to the nearest police station. To his shock, however, the taxi driver turns out to be Kyung-min.

Inside the taxi with Kang Min, Kyung-min calls up someone and tells him that if he doesn’t contact him in eight hours, he must make public the video of Kang Min taking drugs in various places.

Jong-seok catches up with Kyung-min in a parking lot; with his gun drawn, he warns Kyung-min to drop his knife. But Kyung-min points to someone behind Jong-seok and asks him if he really has forgotten “Cheolie,” their classmate who always had a baseball with him. When Jong-seok looks to see who’s behind him, Kyung-min slips away.

With the junior detectives watching in silence, Jin-ah confronts Jong-seok as to why he misled her about Kang Min being Kyung-min’s real target, rather than Principal Choi Suk-ki; she also demands to know what happened that made him transfer to another school at the same time Kyung-min dropped out.

Flashback ... The bullies gang up on Jong-seok by stomping on him repeatedly; they stop only when Mr. Choi Suk-ki arrives. Later on, Mr. Choi Suk-ki asks Kang Min’s father and Jong-seok’s mother to come to the school.

Kyung-min sends Jong-seok a video of Kang Min apologizing for what he did during their middle school days and pleading to be rescued. The team tells Jin-ah that they can’t trace the video because it was sent through an encrypted app. But Jin-ah notices something about the place where the video was shot.

Episode 6

Ep. 5 recap: During the struggle inside the taxi, Kyung-min stabs Kang Min; later, after knocking out Jong-seok in the parking lot, he takes Jong-seok’s gun and places a picture of him, Jong-seok, and Cheolie inside Jong-seok’s pocket. Jong-seok reveals to Jin-ah and his team members that just like Kyung-min, he was bullied during their middle school days. Flashback ... Mr. Choi humiliates Jong-seok by asking his mother, a fish vendor, to speak to his class right after Kang Min’s father, who’s a hospital director and the president of the school’s alumni association. Kyung-min videos Kang Min strangling himself in a “suicide game” and sends it to Jong-seok. He also calls Jong-seok and tells him that he saw Cheolie in the storeroom a year ago. As they’re talking, Jong-seok is shocked to see hiding in the darkness a young man wearing a hoodie — it’s Cheolie. Flashback ... While the other bullies hold Jong-seok, Kang Min strangles him in a “suicide game.” But Cheolie hurls his baseball at Kang Min’s head and strikes him and the other bullies down with a flying knee. He strikes Kang Min and another bully repeatedly with his baseball; he also forces Kang Min to give the money to pay for Kyung-min’s and Jong-seok’s PE uniforms.

Flashback ... At the store, Jong-seok and Kyung-min buy new PE uniforms while Cheolie picks up a pig’s mask. On the way home, after asking Jong-seok and Kyung-min if they want to know how to beat the bullies, Cheolie leads them to an abandoned church. There, while wearing the pig’s mask, he teaches them that they’re pigs, whereas Kang Min and the other bullies are dogs.

Jin-ah picks up Jong-seok’s cellphone which he dropped in shock upon seeing the hooded Cheolie; she hears Kyung-min saying that he’ll be going after Kang Min’s minions.

Jin-ah and Jong-seok realize that Kyung-min isn’t holding Kang Min in an RV (camping car); as they follow up this new lead, Jin-ah calls up the junior detectives and tells them to secure Kang Min’s minions, his fellow bullies, who are now a banker and a pharmaceutical company executive.

Kang Min’s minions are beaten up and kidnapped from a night club. Meanwhile, Kyung-min threatens to shoot Kang Min if he can’t answer his question about pigs, dogs, a group picture, and a Rubik’s cube.

Episode 7

Ep. 6 recap: Flashback ... At the abandoned church, Cheolie tells Jong-seok and Kyung-min that they have to become evil if they want to beat Kang Min and the bullies. He also says that a knife differentiates a human being from pigs and dogs. Later, using Cheolie’s knife, Jong-seok and Kyung-min repeatedly stab a cat. Flashback ... Kang Min and his fellow bullies are in turn bullied by a group of upperclassmen led by Kim Jong-bin, who’s running for student council president. After Cheolie interrupts Kim Jong-bin’s campaign speech, Kang Min starts beating up Kyung-min, who refuses to cry despite the beating. When Cheolie stops Kang Min, the other bullies gang up on him. After some hesitation, Jong-seok and Kyung-min rush to help Cheolie, who takes off his belt and uses it as a weapon to strike Kang Min and the bullies. Kyung-min’s accomplices take Kang Min’s terrified minions to the yatch. Kyung-min has left the yacht but has placed on the table Kang Min’s cellphone, Jong-seok’s gun, the group picture, and Kim Jong-bin’s Rubik’s cube. Kang Min thinks that it was Cheolie who sent his minions the email messages that got their group together again. Realizing that he no longer has a life or career after Kyung-min uploaded to the university hospital website the video of him taking drugs, he uses Jong-seok’s gun to kill himself.

Jong-seok’s superior officer orders him to keep quiet about losing his gun and to be wary of Jin-ah. Meanwhile, after studying the gun register at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Jin-ah finds the USB drive still attached to Jong-seok’s laptop. After studying it, she goes to the parking lot (where Jong-seok lost his gun).

Jong-seok and his team raid the office of Sin Seok Transportation and shut down its operations. They also arrest the company’s manager.

With the help of Seo Dong Police Station’s IT expert, Jin-ah finds out that the piece of paper that Kyung-min placed inside Jong-seok’s pocket is actually a picture of Kyung-min, Jong-seok, and another classmate. After remembering that Kyung-min mentioned someone named “Cheolie,” she calls up Jong-seok and asks him if he had another friend in middle school besides Kyung-min. But Jong-seok says no.

Flashback ... With Kang Min and the other bullies down on the floor, Cheolie orders Kyung-min and Jong-seok to continue hitting them. Kyung-min refuses, saying the fight’s over, but Jong-seok takes the belt, wraps it around his fist, and approaches the cowering Kang Min.

Episode 8

Ep. 7 recap: Jong-seok asks the psychiatrist for some medicine that will calm him down; the psychiatrist counsels him that when he sees an illusion, he should not speak to it because the illusion will then become real to him. Jong-seok and the raiding team find out that Sin Seok Transportation’s manager is a former police officer with a clean record. Flashback ... The mothers of Jong-seok and Kyung-min beg on their knees for forgiveness from Kang Min’s father. When Kang Min’s father slaps Cheolie repeatedly, the principal and Mr. Choi Suk-ki say and do nothing. Jong-seok goes to the police station where the Sin Seok Transportation’s manager served as a police officer. He finds out that the manager has a beloved niece, Ji-hyun, who was bullied by her classmates; she became brain dead after jumping off from the terrace of a building. Jin-ah finds out from Jong-seok and Kyung-min’s classmate that Cheolie committed suicide in front of all the students by jumping off from the roof.

Flashback ... Kyung-min sees police officer Park Sung-jin attack the father whose child is one of those who bullied his niece Ji-hyun. Later, he meets Park Sung-jin and offers to pay for Ji-hyun’s hospital expenses in exchange for helping him get his revenge. Park Sung-jin accepts the offer but tests Kyung-min if he has the guts to carry out his revenge.

Jong-seok interrogates Kang Min’s banker-minion about the Rubik’s cube, but the minion becomes hysterical and has to be rushed back to the hospital. At the team’s office, Jong-seok finds out that the USB drive is missing from his laptop.

Based on her interview with Jong-seok and Kyung-min’s classmate, Jin-ah goes on her way to see the person who knows more about Cheolie’s background. When Jong-seok calls her, she again asks him if he had a friend in middle school other than Kyung-min. But he again says no.

Jong-seok is stunned when he learns that the newspaper reporter who wrote an in-depth article about how Ji-hyun was bullied is Kim Jong-bin, the upperclassman who bullied Kang Min and ran for Student Council president during his middle school days.

Jong-seok, his team, and local police officers rush to the newspaper’s office. There, Jong-seok is surprised when Kim Jong-bin recognizes him and says that he met Kyung-min a year ago.

Episode 9

Ep. 8 recap: Flashback ... Kyung-min stabs to death the serial sex offender captured by Park Sung-jin. Cheolie’s mother gives to Jin-ah Cheolie’s suicide letter and a picture of Cheolie and his friends. Jong-seok realizes that the Rubik’s cube referred to Kim Jong-bin. But he’s surprised when Kim Jong-bin plays the recording of his conversation with Kyung-min — he has repented of his sins as a bully in school and apologized to Kyung-min for his actions that led to Cheolie’s death. In the recording, Kyung-min tells Kim Jong-bin to write about his experiences of being bullied and what led to Cheolie’s suicide. Kim Jong-bin kneels and apologizes to Jong-seok for the things he did during their school days. But after saying that it’s too late, Jong-seok rushes out of the office and orders his men to pull out. Along the way, Jong-seok gets a call from Kyung-min, who tells him to reveal to everyone through Kim Jong-bin the truth about Cheolie’s suicide. But Jong-seok refuses. Cheolie’s mother calls up Jin-ah and tells her that Cheolie didn’t write the suicide letter. After consulting the forensic expert who said that one of the three friends in the picture wrote the suicide letter, Jin-ah looks for samples of Jong-seok’s handwriting. Kyung-min targets his classmate who was interviewed by Jin-ah.

Flashback ... Together with former police officer Park Sung-jin, Kyung-min plans his revenge against his classmate Park Chan-young, an electrical engineering graduate who’s a member of the dark website owned by Dog Park. Park Sung-jin says that he’ll contact a hacker he knew from his police work.

When Jong-seok catches her rummaging through his desk, Jin-ah confronts him about why he never mentioned being a friend or classmate of Cheolie. After revealing that Cheolie’s suicide letter was forged, she tells him not to order her around; she also says that she will investigate the forged suicide letter as the starting point of Kyung-min’s murders.

After logging on to Dog Park’s website and reading who the latest victim is supposed to be, Park Chan-young leaves his house to go to a movie theater, with Kyung-min following him.

Flashback ... In an alley, Kang Min and another bully catch Park Chan-young selling porn CDs to their fellow students.

After sneaking into Park Chan-young’s apartment, Kyung-min uses the desktop computer to log on to Dog Park’s website. Meanwhile, after speaking with the psychiatrist and getting a copy of Kyung-min’s handwriting, Jin-ah goes to Park Chan-young’s apartment.

Episode 10

Ep. 9 recap: Flashback ... Kang Min and the other bullies turn Park Chan-young into their slave, taking big cuts from his sales of porn CDs. They also use his piezoelectric device to hurt Jong-seok and Kyung-min. Kyung-min finds out that somebody else killed the old man inside the theater and that Park Chan-young is actually Dog Park. After posting a message on the website identifying Park Chan-young as the next target, he takes all of the porn videos and hidden cam videos from Park Chan-young’s cabinet. Numerous men converge on Park Chan-young’s apartment, intent on killing him and gaining the prize of a big haul of porn videos and hidden cam videos. Jong-seok’s junior detective gets walloped on the head with a blunt object while Jong-seok gets stabbed trying to protect Jin-ah and Park Chan-young. While his junior detective and Jin-ah are chasing Park Chan-young, Jong-seok gets a call from Kyung-min, who reveals that Park Chan-young is actually Dog Park. Pretending to be Dog Park, Kyung-min orders the men who kidnapped Park Chan-young to drop him off on a deserted street; he takes Park Chan-young to a warehouse and binds his hands and feet with steel chains. After scattering the porn videos and hidden cam videos on the floor, Kyung-min identifies himself to Park Chan-young and shouts, “Why did you do that to Cheolie?” At the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Jin-ah finds out from the forensic expert who forged Cheolie’s suicide letter.

Flashback ... Together with Jong-seok, Cheolie sees at the night club entrance his mother helping their tipsy teacher Mr. Choi Suk-ki get into a taxi. Cheolie also gets into a taxi and follows Mr. Choi Suk-ki to his house.

At the hospital, Jin-ah remembers that the forensic expert concluded that Jong-seok wrote Cheolie’s suicide letter. She also remembers her conversation with the psychiatrist — Jong-seok is now suffering from hallucinations similar to those of Kyung-min. Despite the questions and objections of Jong-seok’s superior officer and the junior detectives, she orders Constable Jin Hae-soo from the Seo Dong Police Station to guard Jong-seok’s hospital room and not allow him to go anywhere.

The men who kidnapped Park Chan-young are captured; Jong-seok’s superior officer, the junior detectives, the SWAT team, and local police officers then arrive to scour the area where the men dropped off Park Chan-young. Meanwhile, Jin-ah follows up her own lead based on Kyung-min’s list of property holdings.

Flashback ... While Kang Min and the other bullies are hurting Jong-seok and Kyung-min on the rooftop with Park Chan-young’s newest piezoelectric device, Cheolie arrives. As he begins beating up Kang Min, the other bullies escape. One of them meets Kim Jong-bin and his group and tells them about what’s happening.

Episode 11

Ep. 10 recap: Kyung-min kills Park Chan-young by electrocuting him. Flashback ... Park Chan-young runs to the faculty office and tells Mr. Choi Suk-ki about the ongoing fight on the rooftop. But having been blackmailed by Cheolie, Mr. Choi Suk-ki refuses to do anything. Meanwhile, despite being outnumbered, outweighed, and badly beaten, Cheolie prevails over Kim Jong-bin and his group. He points at the fearful students who are merely watching the fight without doing anything about the bullying and shouts that, as the King of Pigs, he will make their middle school days miserable. Cheolie’s father commits suicide by taking poison. Park Chan-young learns about it and devises a plan with Kang Min to humiliate Cheolie. With Mr. Choi Suk-ki’s help, their class and the whole school learn how Cheolie’s father died. Park Chan-young, Kang Min, and the other bullies further humiliate Cheolie by suggesting to Mr. Choi Suk-ki that a collection box be placed in front of the school for donations to Cheolie and his mother. Cheolie tells Kyung-min and Jong-seok that he will put a curse on Kang Min and the other dogs by committing suicide in public. But Cheolie changes his mind when he finds in his father’s house a pair of red shoes for his mother, and a baseball and glove for him. That night, he tells Jong-seok that he will just make a show before the students and teachers of attempting to commit suicide. He also tells Jong-seok that he plans to become a police officer. Kyung-min sees Jong-seok push Cheolie from the ledge, causing him to fall to his death.

Flashback ... Having rebuked Park Chan-young that Cheolie is the God who will never bow down before dogs and apologize, Jong-seok becomes extremely disappointed and angry when Cheolie says that he has changed his mind and will just put on a show for the whole school. As he walks away from Cheolie, he tells himself, “I will be the monster, and you will be the God!”

Park Chan-young’s death by electrocution and identity as the notorious “Dog Park” are revealed in the TV news reports. The top officers of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency decide to disband the dedicated unit and replace it with an expanded unit with members coming rom various units.

After visiting Cheolie’s mother, Kyung-min causes chaos in the press conference of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency by surrendering.

At Kyung-min’s request, the top officer in charge of the expanded unit allows Jong-seok to talk with Kyung-min in the interrogation room. But Jong-seok turns off the audio in the room; the officers watching them don’t hear Kyung-min urging Jong-seok to confess that he killed Cheolie. Kyung-min reveals to Jong-seok that he heard Cheolie say that the suicide attempt would just be a show and that he found the forged suicide letter in the abandoned church.

Episode 12, Finale (with spoilers)

Ep. 11 recap: Cheolie’s mother gives the bag of money from Kyung-min to Jin-ah and asks her to use it to find Cheolie’s killer. Jin-ah barges into the interrogation room and confronts Jong-seok with Kyung-min’s journal and the forged suicide letter. But Jong-seok still denies having killed Cheolie. Planning to kill Kyung-min to silence him, Jong-seok lies to the officers of the expanded unit that Kyung-min is holding someone hostage in a remote place. Several police vehicles escort him and Kyung-min to the remote place, but he has informed Park Sung-jin about Kyung-min’s destination. Meanwhile, Jin-ah submits Kyung-min’s journal and the forged suicide letter to an officer of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Park Sung-jin and his men from Sin Seok Transportation block the police vehicles along the highway as Jong-seok escapes in his car with Kyung-min. Park Sung-jin chases after Jong-seok, but Jong-seok crashes his car through the railing and into the river. He escapes from the submerged car, leaving Kyung-min handcuffed and trapped inside the car.

Park Sung-jin rescues Kyung-min from the submerged car. From the CCTV camera footage, Jin-ah realizes that Jong-seok deliberately crashed his car into the river.

After resigning from his newspaper company, Kim Jong-bin publishes on the Internet the copy of “The King of Pigs” given to him a year ago by Kyung-min.

Kyung-min kidnaps Principal Choi Suk-ki and takes him to their middle school. After cutting Principal Choi Suk-ki’s wrists, he leaves a cellphone on the desk near him.

From the school’s rooftop, Kyung-min and Jong-seok plunge to their deaths.

Historical /cultural backgrounders and other information

1. “#MeToo-style reckoning over school bullying rocks South Korea” (NBC, March 2021)

South Korea has been rocked in recent years by high-profile deaths of students following severe bullying by schoolmates. Suicide has been the No. 1 cause of death among adolescents in the country for eight consecutive years, according to a government report last year. Bullying and violence in school are understood to be one of the biggest reasons for the high suicide rate.

2. “Of kids bullied at school, 1 in 3 targeted ‘as a joke’: survey” (The Korea Herald, January 2020)

The most common reason behind the bullying was “just as a joke” (29.4 percent). Some 19.2 percent of the bullying took place “for no special reason” or “because the victims’ behavior and appearance were weird” (14.7 percent).

3. “S. Korea struggles to save students from bullying” (AsiaOne)

School bullying is grabbing national attention after a 15-year-old student killed himself early this month, listing the names of schoolmates who allegedly abused him for two years. It was the 14th suicide believed to be caused by bullying in Daegu in less than two years.

Nearly 1 in 10 students at Korean primary and secondary schools has suffered from various forms of violence at the hands of their peers, according to a survey by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

4. “Past school bullying claims spread like wildfire to S. Korean entertainment scene” (Yonhap News Agency, February 2021)

Starting from professional volleyball, the recent school bullying scandal has now engulfed the South Korean entertainment scene, with names of a number of K-pop stars and film and TV actors making headlines across the country.

5. YouTube videos on bullying in South Korean schools